Issue 138
Issue 138 is the one-hundred and thirty-eighth issue of Image Comics' The Walking Dead and the sixth and final part of Volume 23: Whispers Into Screams. It was published on March 11, 2015. Plot Paul kicks Gregory to the ground, and with a now bloody nose, Gregory exclaims "what the fuck!?" He starts to persist that Jesus has the wrong idea and that Maggie has passed out, but Jesus isn't convinced, and while hurrying to pick up Maggie, he threatens to kill Gregory if anything happens to her. Maggie urges Jesus to set her down, and says that she'll be fine. She asks Jesus to lock up Gregory. When Gregory starts to protest, Maggie snaps back telling him to shut up, and that he's incapable of being a leader if he can't even poison her correctly. Lydia and Carl lay in the field while Lydia say "that was nice" explaining how their intimacy was slow and clumsy compared to what she usually experiences. When Carl gets defensive, she further explains that members of her group would thrust it upon her even if she didn't want to, leading Carl to conclude that she'd been raped. She denies the phrase and tells him that it's basic animal nature and is only considered wrong by the standards of the "old world". Lydia tells Carl that she's enjoying the way of life he's shown her, and that she doesn't want to go back to her group. Carl tells her that he won't allow her to be forced back into her group of Whisperers. When Carl tries to put on his glasses and get her to go tell Maggie about this, she tells him not to put on his glasses because he shouldn't hide who he really is, and leans in to kiss him. After locking up a still resistant Gregory, Maggie and Jesus are approached by a very frantic Oscar who tells them they need to follow him to the gate, where a group of nearly two-dozen Whisperers stand behind their leader, who asks if Maggie is in charge. Maggie says yes, and that while the size of their group is impressive, the Hilltop is capable of defending themselves as well in case of conflict. The Whisperer leader says that there will be no conflict as long as Maggie's group stays off of their land and doesn't kill their people. The leader removes her walker mask, and introduces herself as Alpha, and states that they've come to retrieve her daughter, Lydia, in exchange for Ken and Dante. After assuring each other that none of the captives have been harmed, Maggie goes to retrieve Lydia. Carl is defiant of giving up Lydia, arguing that she had told him she doesn't want to go back, but Maggie explains that there's a small army outside offering a trade for their unharmed Hilltop members. Lydia steps in and tells Carl that she will go back to her group and gives Carl a kiss, telling him that they are her people and she needs to go back to them, and that she misses them. Carl still argues saying that the Hilltop could fight them off, but Lydia refuses. Back at the gate, Carl pleads to Maggie saying that he knows Lydia, but Maggie says otherwise telling him he'd only known her for one day. Lydia walks over to her group saying "I'm sorry mom. Thanks for coming to get me", and is answered with "You call me Alpha like the rest," and Lydia obliges. With a final look back at Carl, the group of Whisperers make their way back towards the woods. Back inside, Carl continues to carry out the argument with Maggie, saying that she'd sent Lydia to a horrible group and that Maggie had basically sacrificed her. Maggie counters with the argument that Lydia could have been a "murdering savage" for all she knew. After another remark from Carl, Maggie declares the discussion over and tells him she needs to drop the subject for now. Maggie walks into the medical office and asks Doctor Carson how Dante and Ken are, and Carson says that they're in great health, and whoever set Kens leg really knew what they were doing. Dante and Ken explain that they were well fed with meat, and from inside the tent they were kept in, they could hear the Whisperers slaughtering the animals for food. Dante tells Maggie not to cross these people, saying that from what he heard, it sounded like there were thousands of them. Sophia knocks on Carl's door saying that her mother wanted her to check up on him, and when she opens the unlocked door, she calls out Carl's name once more while shockingly looking at an empty room. While walking with Alpha, Lydia is told that she needs to stay towards the center until they can get her a new walker suit. Lydia assures her mother that she tried to keep the suit safe, and Alpha tells her daughter that she was very strong and she is proud of her. They continue walking into the woods, keeping their voices down. Carl is seen outside the walls, walking off towards the woods. Credits *Carl Grimes *Sophia *Maggie Greene *Paul Monroe *Gregory *Harlan Carson *Brianna *Samuel *Oscar *Ken *Hershel Greene *Dante *Alpha *Lydia *Hilltop Colony residents *The Whisperers Deaths *None Trivia *Originally, the tagline for this issue was "Confrontation"http://www.thewalkingdead.com/walking-dead-138-cover-139-cover/, but it was later changed to "Face to face"https://imagecomics.com/comics/releases/the-walking-dead-138 (same tagline as Issue 135) for unknown reasons. Reference Category:Media and Merchandise